Hostage Negotiator Prepares For Return To Beirut

December 13, 1985|By United Press International

LONDON — Church of England envoy Terry Waite is ''engaged in a series of talks'' in preparation for returning to Beirut before Christmas to try to win the release of four American hostages, the church said Thursday.

A church spokeswoman had said Waite could begin his trip as early as today, but the church said in its latest statement that his departure is ''most unlikely'' before next week.

''He expects to be returning to Beirut before Christmas, but at the moment he cannot give precise information on the date of his departure from London,'' the statement said.

The church said Waite, an aide to Archbishop of Canterbury Robert Runcie, ''is currently engaged in a series of talks related to his mission in Beirut.''

The statement did not say who Waite was talking to, but he has had previous contact with the Moslem captors holding the four Americans in Lebanon.

Waite visited Beirut twice last month, including two days trapped in his hotel because of gunbattles between rival militias, to negotiate the release of the Americans.

He also traveled to New York for talks with U.N. Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar and church leaders and to Washington, where he met with Vice President George Bush.

Waite has been frustrated in an attempt to visit Kuwait because authorities there would not grant him a visa.